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Welcome Let’s Get Organized Blog Hop #5

Link up here to post about all types of organization…whether it was successful, ongoing, or just the beginning stages. If it didn’t work out, post about it anyway. Proud of a recent reorganization, share it with all of us

When I go out with Dino I put my makeup bag in his tote and wear my wallet purse.

This makes like so much easier. After so many bags and failed organization attempts…this system works for me? Do you do something similar? How do you organize your bag(s)?

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FEATURED POST

I was so happy when Michelle told me about her purse organization. In this post Michelle talks about and shows us her POUCHEE, the ultimate purse organizer. LOOK how awesome that is… and you should see all the things she gets in there. I SO need to get this for my birthday or Christmas

So go check it out, you just may add it to your wish list or BUY IT…I know I am dying to get one now.

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NEXT WEEK…I will be talking cleaning systems. Do you have a chart? calendar? follow an online system? Create your own?

Future topics include

What organization products could you NEVER live without?

How do you organize your kid(s) toys?

HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR A FUTURE ORGANIZATIONAL TOPIC? WANT YOUR POST TO BE FEATURED?

Welcome Let’s Get Organized Blog Hop #3

Link up here to post about all types of organization…whether it was successful, ongoing, or just the beginning stages. If it didn’t work out, post about it anyway. Proud of a recent reorganization, share it with all of us

RULES:

Follow your host and guest-host and let them know…we will follow back.

Grab the Let’s Get Organized Button and place it on your post or sidebar.

Go check out three other links…show them some love…meet new bloggers and gain followers

No posts about sales, shops, or NON-family friendly material

ORGANIZATION…

With me returning back to work full time, I am stumped on how to find the time to shop for make a shopping list, shop for groceries, and make healthy meals every night. I used Peapod MANY years ago and am thinking this might be a good time to start up again.With Peapod I can…

Use coupons and have them taken off the next order

Coupons get doubled up to 99c

Add my items right to the site and that’s my shopping list.

If I have it delivered on Wednesday, I can get $5 off the $10 delivery fee

I don’t have to leave the house…food is brought right to my door and I can put it away with ease.

Yes, you pay for convenience, but I think in order to be organized you have to make priorities. Between working full time, planning lessons and writing reports at home for work, blogging, crocheting, cleaning and organizing, and being a wife and mom…I just don’t have time to go to a grocery store. Is paying a few more dollars to do one less thing worth the price? YES, to me it is.

COUPONS: I used to have a big red binder full of coupons, run around to various stores to spend as little as possible on everything…again, it’s about priorities. Now I just keep them in a small photo album by categories. It’s easier to get them out and see which have expired and easier to drop them into the correct category.

So what do you all use for making lists and shopping? Do you go to the stores or shop online? How do you organize your coupons?

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FEATURED POST

Mandy posted about how she organizes her recipes and sets up a monthly menu. You can see that here. She has a great technology-free system, which looks pretty organized. A whole month of menus…that’s darn amazing and something I wish I could do…but would fail miserably.

Go over and check out her system…might inspire you to rework your menus.

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NEXT WEEK I will be talking about organizing your clothes. Do you prepare your clothes the night before or the week before? Or do you get your outfit ready as you get dressed?

Welcome Let’s Get Organized Blog Hop #2

Link up here to post about all types of organization…whether it was successful, ongoing, or just the beginning stages. If it didn’t work out, post about it anyway. Proud of a recent reorganization, share it with all of us

4. Follow and comment on at least 3 other blogs..the best way to make new friend and gain more followers.

5. Posts that include sales, shops, or non-family friendly material will be deleted with no explanation

ORGANIZATION…

Currently my small fridge barely holds enough…sure we have the shelves on the door, but it’s still not enough. I think we may need a new fridge but don’t want to hit up the landlord for that yet. Therefore keeping everything in sealed containers seems to be the safest bet.

I already have some containers for eggs cold cuts, brick cheese, snacks, and juice. This is what I have done so far. Just remember that does not show the school lunches and water bottles that will be piling up in there soon. There is only one left over from dinner and I need to get those hot dogs into a container.

Rubbermaid 7J93 Produce Saver Square Food Storage Containers Set of 8

Progressive International LKS-06 Lettuce Keeper

Interdesign Covered Egg Holder, 14 Egg Capacity

ORGANIZING BLOGGERS…

Julia from Mom on the Run x2 is sharing a free printable that helps her organize her blog. Go to her post and check it out. I just may start using it too.

NEXT WEEK I will be talking about organizing your shopping lists and where you shop…multiple stores, one store, or online.

Welcome to the first Let’s Get Organized Blog Hop.

Link up here to post about all types of organization…whether it was successful, ongoing, or just the beginning stages. If it didn’t work out, post about it anyway. Proud of a recent reorganization, share it with all of us

4. Follow and comment on at least 3 other blogs..the best way to make new friend and gain more followers.

5. Posts that include sales, shops, or non-family friendly material will be deleted with no explanation

Check out some organization…

I made my own recipe cards, thanks for all the ideas from last week’s post. It may not be the best style or directions…but I can understand them. I like to substitute various ingredients and change dinners up as I go along, so this works for me. Do you add lots of details to your recipes or just add the bare minimum?

Recipe Organization HELP!!!!!!

What online recipe organizers do you use. I have tried a few…but don’t really LOVE one over another. Besides do I really want to rewrite each and every recipe? I would love to know which you use, if any. OR do you use a method without technology? Perhaps just relying on pinterest is the best…besides I have the app on my phone…I just hate having to open a website to look at the recipe….SEE????? I am losing my mind. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH

I’ve previously posted about crock pot cooking, meal planning, freezer meals. With a super small kitchen I am always changing how I organize meals. I will be full time again in September and want to be prepared. Between blogging, working full time, preparing lessons, crocheting, and being a wife and mom meal and lunch planning is the worst.

If I don’t buy lunches for Dino at daycare, we’ll always have cold cuts, pb&j, items for quesadillas, grilled cheese, mini pizzas, hummus with chips, french toast and ham. They seem to be the cheapest meals. I tend to only buy items we need on a weekly basis, not wanting to overload the small fridge and limited space. I do buy extra frozen that are on sale and store in our other freezer in the garage.

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I am also thinking of starting an Organization Blog Hop on Thursdays. Anyone interested in co hosting or linking up? What do you all think?

You can link up any post about organization on Thursdays. Small spaces, large spaces, kitchens, bathrooms, meal planning, family, work, entertainment, cars, garages, daily life, holidays…it’s all included. Going to start it next Thursday.

So fellow bloggers…what do you think?

Linking up with

~*~THANKFUL~*~

Thankful that Dino is more independent and was great in the mall. He walked beside me ran ahead of me, but stayed closed and stopped when I told him too. He did fall down all the time, but with Dino he only has TWO speeds…fast and faster. He listened while on the elevator and helped me pick out earrings. He waited patiently on line for the carousel and sat ate lunch nicely next to me. There are days I am floored by what a big boy I have.

I am thankful that Alanna suggested I start crocheting. It REALLY is easier for me. I am getting the hang of crocheting. While I am still a beginner and could probably only makes scarves, I am having a blast. It’s a thin scarf, but I am so gosh darn proud.

I’ve made a few errors, but got the hang of “turning the chain” but I just say making the length for the next row.

Now I am starting a new scarf, this one goes ten across…I’m getting braver and saved the nicer color blend for when I got the hang of crocheting. I can’t wait to see the final project. My mother crochets…I NEVER KNEW THAT, or maybe I did and just forgot…I’ve been forgetting quite a bit over the years. So maybe she can help me with ending the scarf instead of just making a knot. I wonder if I can add tassels or fringe?

In just two days I’m making great progress, don’t you think?

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Hubby, the Space Thief

Hubby has taken over the closet, in fact the entire bedroom. He has three containers, two under the bed and one behind the dresser, most of the dresser drawers and 3/4 of the closet. I have 1/4 of the closet, one shelf in the closet, and three drawers in the dresser.

The lack of closet space is WHY my clothes are on the dresser in this utter mess.

I know my mother is freaking out that I am showing this mess on my dressers…but I know I am not the only one with this disaster. I am going to head over to Bed, Bath, and Beyond tomorrow with the coupon and see if I can purchase plastic or wicker drawers to put on top of the dresser. We rent a small apartment, so we can’t really change any of the structure. So that is why I though I would use space by going up instead of taking precious and limited floor space.

that my son can be thrilled with a happy face on a band-aid when his “cars” band-aids are all out

please excuse the the background. Those clothes need to be put away and the box of toys need to wrapped for son’s birthday

that son and I had a wonderful conversation during dinner last night. I hope I can always be able to talk with him at dinner

that the hanging baskets I ordered have arrived and I have one already hanging up

this will save more space in our kitchen. I have another one to hang over the sink for our sponges and rags. I just need hubby to get hook into the ceiling.

that my hubby actually cleaned the kitchen counters…I’m waiting for hell to freeze over though. Seriously though, it was incredibly wonderful coming home to see a clean and organized counter. I can only do so much, so this made my night.

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So now we are back in the kitchen withFlyLadyand it was much easier cleaning this area. Under the sink cabinet and baggie/dog food cabinets are still in good shape. The food cabinet is holding strong and the fridge is looking good.

Not only does FlyLady help you with your home, but she wants you to Love yourself and feel good about yourself. It’s been ages, but I finally cut my hair. I have wanted to for so long but didn’t have the money or time. It looks sophisticated and fits me. I wanted to show off all my natural curls, while having an easy style. I really didn’t like the long hair in my face or weighing me down. You all know, being a mom leaves little time for yourself, so whatever you have to do to make it easier is a necessity.

I’m ready to keep going and organizing now. My only problem this week was keeping the counters organized. With the weather so nice I took Dino out for a walk every afternoon or after dinner. So, my counters got over crowded (negatives of a small kitchen), but I reorganized it.

Now with stinky weather there is no walking today, so I’ll make Dinosaur help me clean a bit. He loves to help his mommy, so hopefully this will keep him busy and keep me from going stir crazy.

Thought I would combine my organization of small spaces with Thankful Thursdays. First off, I ‘ll start with what I am thankful for….

I’m thankful for a son who loves to help me cook and clean, he just loves to spend time with his mommy.

I am thankful for a son who always says please and thank you and means it.

I’m thankful I am blessed with such a determined and sweet boy.

I’m thankful I have a job to go to every morning and have a way to pay for our bills, groceries and daycare.

I’m thankful for a roof over our heads, I know in today’s economy that is just a dream for some families.

I’m thankful for a small space that forces me to get organized and focus on what’s really important.

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I LOVE FlyLady and how she has helped me. Since this week is a combination of the living room and dining room/entrance/ porch I would show some pictures of those areas. I still have more to do to get organized, but I think it looks pretty darn good. My mother was up and she of course pointed out the pile of shoes (some no longer fitting Dino) still on the shoe flat. Why do mothers only see the things you need to work on and not what you accomplished?

Even with a small living room, let me show you how I organized it and sectioned it. Even with a small space, it’s important to have areas within, so it feels bigger and you don’t feel trapped.

WeI limited what was allowed in the lving room. We got rid of DVD cases and keep them in a special accordion case, except for a few special ones. Hubby complains that he can’t find his DVD when he needs them in a hurry. I don’t think looking through a big binder makes it any harder than searching through 200 cases. He just wants to complain.

Many of my son’s art supplies are kept behind his door in a hanging organizer, but some are kept on the entertainment shelf. As long as it is kind of hidden in baskets, it’s all good.

With a small space, you can’t have a table taking up room. Instead we use ottomans for eating if we really must eat in the living room or just sit at the dining table. My place is not perfect, it’s still a work in progress as I continue to fly with the FlyLady. I am hoping to instill good cleaning and organizing skills in my son now, so when he is older he will automatically know what to do.

Now that the sun is shining and we can sit outside and enjoy the fresh air, I am loving the porch.It was such a beautiful weekend, that I enjoyed sitting out there for quite a bit and loved how the picture turned out. Hubby has more junk and dust-collecting nonsense in the garage, more than he knows what to do with. He says it’s organized, but it just looks like contained clutter to me. It truly frustrates me. I know I can only do what I can and so I am going to clean and organize what I can control.

Thanks to FlyLady… my son has told me to flush after I clean, because he can’t see his pee in the toilet. That is just too funny, but makes me proud.

Since our apartment is so tiny, I can get the Weekly Home Blessing, which I do on Sunday evening, done in less than an hour.

Our tiny, but organized living room

This week it was our master bedroom, including the closet with the washer and dryer. Hubby mostly sleeps in this room. His snoring is quite horrific, so bad that I truly can not get any sleep at all. I prefer to sleep in the living room, where I know it is much cleaner. While hubby changed the sheets I believe that is all he has done. There are still clothes hanging everywhere, but he did vacuum.

our plain apartment bedroom, but pretty organized.

I still need to clean out my night stand and work on my closet, but then the rest the room will be cleaned from floor to ceiling.

YES, it’s a dark picture. I wanted to keep my unmentionables a little hidden. To save space I keep my undergarments all on the back of the closet door in shoe storage.